Ex-Employees Accused of Killing Cannabis Company Boss

Police say the "heinous" and "senseless" kidnapping and murder of a California tech executive last year was carried out by four young men—including two of his own employees.

Police say Kaleb Charters, 19, and Stephen Lindsay, 22, worked at a cannabis business run by 50-year-old Tushar Atre, the founder of web design company AtreNet.

They were arrested this week along with Joshua Camps, 23, and Kurtis Charters, the 22-year-old brother of Kaleb Charters. Police say the men, armed with a rifle, entered Atre's coastal Santa Cruz home while he was asleep around 3am on Oct. 1 and forced him into his BMW SUV, KTVU reports.

His body and the vehicle were found in the Santa Cruz Mountains around six hours later.

Three of the men are being held in the Santa Cruz County Jail, while Kaleb Charters is in Michigan awaiting extradition, the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Santa Cruz Sheriff Lt. Brian Cleveland said the crime was planned for "monetary gain," but did not provide details. Santa Cruz County Sheriff Jim Hart told reporters that 62 search warrants were executed during the investigation and there is "compelling" evidence to support murder, kidnap, and robbery charges.

"Four people who did an awful, awful thing are in custody," he said, per CBS San Francisco. "We have the right people."